Bernard, abbot and doctor of the Church (1090–1153)

Biography

"The man who fell in love with God." "The great lover." "The Cistercian reformer." "Mary's beloved." All this has been said and many things about this great man who influenced the Church of the Middle Ages more than the kings and Popes of his time. Tescelín el Moreno and the sweet and charming Alicia, Bernardo's parents, were blessed by the Lord with seven children and all of them would be saints and blessed. This holy couple - both are venerable and blessed - knew how to educate their children Christianly. Bernard was born in 1090 near Dijon (France). He was the first to follow the calling of Christ and it was he who later dragged his brothers and his mother one by one to the cloister. At the age of 21 he joined the Cistercian monks. Shortly afterward he was elected abbot of the Clairvaux monastery, a position he held with great benefit for his monks. Bernardo was endowed with all the gifts that a person could envy: elegant bearing, alert intelligence, overwhelming sympathy, ardent heart. He was the man who fell in love with God, the man with a fiery soul; leader by birth. He was a hurricane, magnetizing everyone who came in contact with him. These were the mottos that he chose for himself and that encapsulate his entire rich life and spirituality: "REACHING CHRIST." Once he left the world, nothing mattered to him more than this: TO BE EVERYTHING OF CHRIST, AND ONLY FOR HIM. "ABSORPTED IN CHRIST." He was a deeply contemplative soul. He spent hours and hours absorbed in God and in the works of nature that led him to God. "EARRINGS OF CHRIST". "CHRIST CONSCIOUS." These mottos were for him and his sister Humbelina, whom he loved with all his soul. He knew very well that his mission was none other than to continue the work begun by Christ in his soul, by embracing the Cistercian life. These mottos served as spurs to love the Lord more and more and serve his brothers. Bernard was the true reformer of religious and even Christian life in the Middle Ages. He founded 68 monasteries during his life. Bernard's action was not limited to his convents, but he called the attention of kings, princes and Popes when he saw that they were not on the right path. These same hierarchs came to him knowing that he would always tell them the truth. Bernardo knew how to bring together, like few others, Mary and Martha of the Gospel, in himself. He was a contemplative and zealous apostle like no other: he preached Crusades, led battles, and spent long hours in prayer. He wrote a lot on Theology and asceticism. He loved Jesus with all his soul and Mary tenderly, like few others have done. He died on August 20, 1153, at the age of 63.